The Best Baskets for Adult Tricycles: Carry More Without Upsetting the Ride

The Apollo is a compact steel basket with a half-mesh weave, which means keys, a phone or a purse cannot slip through the sides the way they can in an open wire basket. It hooks onto the front without tools and comes off with a built-in handle, so you can carry it into the shop instead of unloading it item by item.

On a trike, a front basket sits on the steering, and anything you put in it turns with the wheel. That makes this one a good fit for light, small things and a poor fit for heavy ones. Next to the Schwinn, which also detaches, the Apollo is narrower and taller and relies on hooks rather than a clamped bracket, so it is quicker to use and a little less rigid at speed. Neither is a place for a bag of potatoes.

It suits a rider who wants a small front basket for everyday carrying and who parks in places where leaving a basket on the trike is not wise. The honest caveat is size: at about 14 inches tall and under 10 wide, it is a purse-and-keys basket, and anyone carrying shopping bags will want a rear basket as well.

This is the one that looks like a complete answer to the rear-basket question. The wire frame is 16.9 inches across and 13 deep, with a shallow 5.9 inch height, and the box includes a thick liner, a cargo net and a waterproof cover. A liner stops small items from falling through the wire, the net holds a tall load in place, and the cover keeps a rain shower off the shopping. You can mount it in portrait or landscape, which matters on a trike because a rear basket needs to be as wide as you can fit over the axle without sticking out past the tires.

The maker rates the wire at 200 lb or more, but that figure belongs to the basket and not to your trike. The rack or platform it clamps to, and the trike's own cargo rating, set the real limit. Compared with the CXWXC, the SAMRELAX is shallower and wider, and it ships with two mounting brackets rather than needing a rack as a starting point. Compared with the Lunies, it is rigid and does not fold, which means a stronger feel on a load but no way to tuck it away.

It suits a rider doing regular grocery runs who wants the rain gear included. The caveat is the claim that it fits every rear frame: on a trike, measure the mounting points and the clearance to the tires before you order, and expect to tighten the brackets after the first few rides.

The Lunies is the answer for a trike that spends its nights in a tight shed. It is made of 4 mm steel wire, opens to 15 inches long, 10 high and 8.6 wide, and folds to about 2 inches thick on spring hinges. The padded PU liner bag lifts out and can go shopping on its own, and the waterproof cover has a reflective finish and a zip.

Its rated load is 56 lb, the lowest of the rear baskets here, and that is the trade for the fold. A hinged frame is only as strong as its hinges, so this is a basket for a bag of groceries and a library book, not a bag of soil. Against the SAMRELAX, it is smaller and weaker but far easier to put away. The springs are strong, so open it slowly and keep your fingers clear of the hinge.

It suits a rider who wants a basket only some of the time, or who needs the trike to fit through a narrow gate. The caveat is that a folding frame can loosen at the hinge over time, so look it over each month and lift heavy items in by the liner rather than hauling on the frame.

The CXWXC is a deeper and slightly longer basket than the SAMRELAX, at about 17.7 by 12 by 8 inches, made from wire over 3 mm thick with a rust-resistant coat. It ships with a cargo net, a waterproof cover and the mounting hardware, and it clamps to a standard rear rack. The rack is not included, and that is the one thing a trike buyer must settle before ordering.

Many adult trikes have a rack or platform over the axle, but not all use a standard round-tube rack, and a few ship with a fixed basket frame instead. If yours has a flat rack with clear mounting points, this basket fits naturally. If it has a bolt-on basket cradle, you may need extra brackets. Compared with the Lunies, it is solid and deeper, and compared with the SAMRELAX it holds taller loads but has less width.

It suits a rider who has measured the rack and wants a larger, deeper carrier with the highest rating in this group. The caveat is the same one every rack-mounted basket carries: the rack's own load limit decides how much you can put in, not the basket, so check it before you fill the space.

The YEEGO is a collapsible plastic crate rather than a wire frame, which gives it solid sides and a floor that will not drop a small item through. It is rated to 15 kg, about 33 lb, and comes with a 16 by 16 inch cargo net, a rain cover and hooks. The crate form is useful on a trike because a flat floor and straight walls make a bag of groceries sit still.

The rating is the lowest of the baskets here after the Lunies, and plastic ages differently from steel: sun makes it brittle over a few summers, and a collapsible crate has seams that take the load. Compared with the Lunies, it has a stiffer shape but the same modest capacity, and compared with the SAMRELAX it is lighter and will not rust but is far less forgiving of overloading.

It suits a rider with light daily shopping who wants something quiet and non-metallic. The caveat is that a plastic basket on a trike left outdoors will fade, so keep it out of strong sun when parked, and do not use it for dense items like bottled water in multipacks.

The Schwinn clamps to the handlebar with a quick-release bracket and ships with shims, so it fits 31.8 mm bars directly and 22.2 or 25.4 mm bars with the shims in place. That range covers most trike handlebars, and a clamped bracket is firmer than a hook mount when you take a bump. A folding handle turns the basket into a tote when you lift it off.

On a trike, the same rule applies as with the Retrospec: a front basket loads the steering, so keep what goes in it light and put the heavy items in the rear. Compared with the Retrospec, the Schwinn is a plain wire basket without a half-mesh, so small items need a liner or a bag. In return it clamps more firmly and has a very large owner record.

It suits a rider with a standard cruiser bar who wants a front basket that stays put. The caveat is clearance: a wide basket on a trike with a cable-heavy or brake-lever-crowded bar may foul the cables, so hold it up against the bar before you tighten the clamp.